


Never Leave You Again [Whumptober 2020]

by chemically_imbalanced_romance



Series: Whumptober 2020/Cult AU [31]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: (no one good or loved, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Cults, Gaslighting, Gen, Guns, Humiliation, Hurt/Comfort, Im tipsy, Knives, M/M, Manipulation, all shitty people), and like some other stuff, guhtulghruhghh i'm so sick of tags, implied suicidal thoughts past and present, lmk if i missed anything, shitty character death, treating people like property
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:09:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27300232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chemically_imbalanced_romance/pseuds/chemically_imbalanced_romance
Summary: [Whumptober 2020 Day 31; Cult AU] Things get bad again, and then they get better.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders, and like everyone else is platonic, except royality is either romantic or queerplatonic take it how you will, ugh there's so many i'm not tagging them all
Series: Whumptober 2020/Cult AU [31]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947007
Comments: 10
Kudos: 73
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	Never Leave You Again [Whumptober 2020]

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: No. 31: Today’s Special: Torture [Whipped]

_ October 31st. 3:00 am.  _

They were almost ready to leave. 

They gathered their things, moving quickly and silently, loading up the car. Remus grabbed Janus’ arm to stop him and pull him in for a kiss. 

Janus blushed and smiled. 

Virgil screamed. 

They dropped their things and sprinted. 

“GET OFF, LET GO! I’M NOT GOING BACK!”

_ Smack _ , Virgil fell. Janus and Remus burst into the clearing with the rest stop to find Patton and Roman on their knees and Styx hauling Virgil by his waist towards them. Styx flung him into Patton. 

They quickly righted each other, Patton staring at Virgil with wide, sad eyes. Styx clipped on a new collar and his old leash. 

Bates grabbed Remus by his hair and dragged him away screaming. 

“No!” Janus pulled his knife out and almost lunged, when he realized how outnumbered they were. 

Dozens. 

All around them. 

Nothing about them was the same— Not their clothes, their race, nothing obscuring their identity —just the way they moved, the way they stared at Bates, frothing at the mouth for their next instruction. 

Surrounding them. 

Janus’ hands trembled. 

“Janus.” Bates smiled. “Put the knife down. Get on your knees.” 

Janus stared. 

He sighed and shook his head. A flick of his wrist and a gun pressed to the back of Virgil’s head. 

Janus dropped the knife. 

“Good,” Bates sighed. “And?”

Janus shakily got to his knees. Bates pushed Remus to his knees next to Roman. They grasped hands. 

“Remus, of everyone, I’m the most disappointed in you.” Bates unfurled a whip and came to stand behind Janus. “I trusted you. Besides Styx, you were my favourite. Of all the people Janus could corrupt,” he rested a hand on Janus’ shoulder, “I never imagined you’d be one of them. Do you have anything to say for yourself?” 

Remus ducked his head, and mumbled, “I did what I thought was right.” 

Bates sighed sympathetically. “Now, I don’t doubt that. But you know what you did was wrong, right?” 

He didn’t answer. 

Bates pulled Janus’ top off and pushed him to his hands and knees. Janus heaved for breath, his stomach curled so tight it hurt. He was so embarrassed he wanted to die. 

When the first lash hit, Janus didn’t notice. It was like ice burned down his back. Then he caught a glimpse of the others’ horrified looks, and the second lash hit, and the pain came down on him all at once. 

“I’m starting to think Remus and Virgil are the only ones worth my time,” Bates admitted. “I think they’re the only ones who’ll listen. I’ll keep them, and the rest of you…”

The guns moved to Roman and Patton’s heads, and another lash came down. 

“No,” Janus gasped, scraping his fingers along the cracked concrete. 

Bates laughed. “I’m sorry?”

He clenched his fists around the weeds growing through the cracks. “No, you’re not taking them.”

Another hit, a muffled cry, blood dripped on the ground. 

“And what’s stopping me?” 

“Me.” His hand closed over the knife. Virgil’s eyes widened, but the cult was too focused on Bates to notice. “If you take me, and no one else, I swear to God, I’ll never leave you again. I- I’ll be the most productive, the most obedient…” 

Bates paused. A grin curled on his lips. “And what about Styx? What is he supposed to do without Virgil?” 

Janus looked up and met Virgil’s eyes. Virgil shook his head, eyes watering. 

“I’ll take his place. If you want me.” 

Styx crossed his arms and grinned. “I won’t complain.” 

“Hmm…” 

Bates dropped the whip and dragged Janus to his feet. Janus frowned in confusion, gaze settling between the shoulders of two cultists. 

Logan?

“And do you all agree to this?” 

Patton’s bottom lip wobbled.

Roman straightened up, pressing the gun harder to his skull. “And you’ll… Give him a good life?”

“Roman,” Patton begged, but Roman held his hand up. 

“I’ll give him the very best,” Bates purred and wrapped an arm around Janus’ waist, pulling him closer. Janus squeezed his eyes shut and hid the knife behind his forearm. “As long as he’s completely loyal, obedient… I have no reason not to.”

“As long as you let them go,” Janus insisted. “Forget they exist.” 

Bates smiled. “I think we can manage that. Can’t we?” 

Choruses of ‘yes, sir’ echoed around them. Janus shuddered. 

“I think this has wrapped up quite nicely,” Bates said proudly. He rested his head on Janus’ shoulder and whispered in his ear, “You always were my favourite. I can’t wait to rebegin your training.” 

Bates straightened up. “Let’s get Janus back home! Leave these strangers to rot as they will.” 

Janus’ heavy breathing echoed in his own ears. 

Logan shifted in the brush, crunched on a branch. 

Virgil’s breath hitched, tears dripping down his face. 

The knife was cold in Janus’ palm. 

_ POP! _

Just as the first gunshot went off, Janus let out a cry that was silent to him and slammed the blade into Bates’ side. It sank through bandage. Bates screamed, and shoved. Janus stumbled and brought Patton and the cultist behind him to the ground. Another shot went off, then another. Janus scrambled to his feet while Virgil snatched the cultist’s fallen gun. 

Shots fired off all around, bodies dropping. Logan leapt from the treeline and sprinted to the group. The rest stop was a tornado of bodies. Janus sunk his knife into anyone who came closer, careful not to friendly fire. His friends crowded around him, back to back to back, Remus and Virgil on each of his sides. 

Everyone fell but one. 

As Bates laid, bleeding on the ground and desperately trying to get to his feet, Styx glared at them. 

“How could you be so selfish?” He hissed. “Bates  _ saved _ you, he saved  _ all _ of you, and you- YOU KILLED OUR FAMILY!” 

Virgil was shaking. 

He held his hand out to Janus. Janus traded Virgil’s gun for his knife. 

Styx’s glare deepened. Bates’ pallid face was coated in sweat, his eyes rolling back. 

Virgil stormed forward and leapt. Styx raised his arms in vain, and Virgil took him to the ground, driving his knife through Styx’s eye. 

Styx tensed, then fell limp. 

“Come on,” Janus whispered, gently taking his arms. Virgil let Janus lead him, not entirely there. “We’re leaving. Let’s get in the car, get some clean clothes…” 

Patton, Logan, Roman, Remus, Janus, and Virgil crammed into their stolen car. They changed into clean clothes and put the bloodied ones in a black trashbag. Remus cleaned up Virgil’s face, and the two of them cuddled into Janus, falling asleep. 

“Where are we going?” Janus whispered to Roman in the driver’s seat, running his fingers through his boyfriends’ hair. 

“I don’t know,” Patton whispered back. “I was thinking we spend a year road-tripping in the states, then head to my parents? They’d be glad to help us. It’d be a lot to explain, but…” 

Janus closed his eyes and smiled. “That sounds great, Pat.”

Logan and Roman nodded. Roman reached over the centre console and took Patton’s hand. “I’d love to.” 

**Author's Note:**

> I can’t believe I finished it tf. Feel free to request prompts in this au but bear in mind I have more than satisfied my whump cravings, I am burnt the fuck out on whump lol. ANyway thank you for everyone who’s been so supportive and I love you and happy Halloween and happy nano


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